Amji°yri9?iiarm- }   ^.stringencies  of  Red  and  Pale  Rose.  497 
"353 — Sour  Salt. 
''Investigation  has  shown  that  under  the  name  'sour  salt,'  pur- 
chasers expect  to  receive  an  article  consisting  of  tartaric  acid,  or 
citric  acid,  or  a  mixture  of  'both. 
"A  product  containing  alum,  labeled  as  sour  salt  is  regarded  as 
both  adulterated  and  misbranded  under  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act." 
This  is  an  interesting  example  of  the  birth  of  a  new  synonym, 
for  a  careful  search  of  the  literature  of-  pharmacy  or  even  of  gen- 
eral reference  works  has  failed  to  show  any  record  of  the  synonym 
having  been  recorded.  Although  synonyms  are  usually  misleading 
and  unreliable,  this  one  will  have  to  be  noted  and  observed,  because 
of  the  official  sanction  which  it  has  received  from  an  important 
bureau  of  the  government  at  Washington. 
SOME  NOTES  OX  THE  ASTRINGENCIES  OF  RED  ROSE 
AND  PALE  ROSE.* 
By  Josiah  C.  and  Bertha  L.  DeG.  Peacock. 
Last  year  a  paper  entitled  "The  Tannin  of  Red  Rose"  was  read 
before  this  body.  In  it  were  discussed  the  properties  of  that  astrin- 
gent principle  with  the  result  that  characteristic  differences  from 
other  known  astringent  principles  were  shown. 
Because  of  the  interesting  features  of  this  constituent  of  Red 
Rose  an  examination  of  Pale  Rose  was  undertaken  for  report  to 
this  meeting. 
Concerning  the  presence  of  a  "tannin"  in  Pale  Rose  there  seems 
to  have  been  doubt,  for,  though  some  authors  state  positively  its  ex- 
istence in  small  amounts,  Maisch,  in  his  "Manual  of  Organic  Materia 
Medica,"  1892,  gives  as  constituents :  "Little  volatile  oil,  mucilage, 
sugar,  tannin  (quercitrin?),  malates,  etc."  Certain  it  is  that  the 
matter  had  not  attracted  the  necessary  attention  to  decide  this  ques- 
tion. 
It  is  very  natural  to  base  one's  inference  regarding  the  presence 
and  relative  amount  of  "tannin"  on  the  simple  test  of  taste,  as  men- 
tioned last  year,  when  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  astringency  and 
bitterness  of  Red  Rose  are  experienced  simultaneously  and  are 
*  Read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Penna.  Pharm.  Assoc.,  June,  1921. 
